Carol Flake Chapman

Investing in Chocolate: Sweet Comforts for Difficult Times?

Hershey's beat the street:

Higher prices helped Hershey's first-quarter profit surge 20 percent and beat Wall Street's expectations.
The Hershey Co., the nation's second-largest candy maker, said it also benefited from a later first quarter that captured more Easter sales but was hurt by higher commodity costs and a strengthening dollar.
"Hershey's results for the first quarter were solid, and I am pleased with the progress we continue to make," David J. West, the company's president and chief executive officer, said in a telephone conference with analysts.
However, he acknowledged that beating last year's results will become more difficult for the rest of 2009 because the company has now lapped a February 2008 price increase. Hershey also boosted prices in August.